MSNBC President Phil Griffin on the Menu

May 18 - On the mediabistro.com Morning Media Menu podcast we've had anchors and reporters, authors and bloggers. But this week we're doing something different — talking to some big names in the media world who shape what that world looks like.

We're kicking off "Decision-Maker Week" with MSNBC President Phil Griffin.

From record ratings to big upcoming programming changes (and questions about a continued shift left), there is no shortage of material to talk about.

He talked about the ratings success, post-election, of MSNBC. "I think cable news is in a good position," says Griffin. "In the middle of that is really our success. Not only did people think that cable news would lose much of its audience after the election, but they thought MSNBC would. That we had huge growth and it would go away, and in fact, that did not happen."

Also discussed: the genesis of "The Place For Politics" (it involved Tim Russert), his take on Fox News' recent ratings success and what he considers one of the toughest decisions he's made recently (hint: Dan Abrams).